The parliamentary standing committee on the defence ministry termed the construction of the mosque in front of the army headquarters at a cost of Tk 15 crore as unplanned and asked all to stop such abuse of public money.

"The selection of the land was not sensible. It should not be built on 19 bighas in front of the army headquarters. If we need to expand the headquarters, there will be a land crisis," committee chairman Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star emerging from a committee meeting.

"The mosque was built in the cantonment without any master plan," Mahbubur, also former chief of the army staff, said.

Chief of the army staff, secretary of the defence ministry and high officials present in the meeting also expressed the same view.

The committee observed that the mosque fell into disuse, as there was a central mosque in the cantonment.

"The cost was very high. Tk 22 lakh was paid in consultancy fees alone," the committee chairman said.

"People pay tax to fund government expenses. So the defence budget should be used carefully. The budget should be used to modernise the armed forces."

The mosque was built under the past Awami League government when Mustafizur Rahman was the chief of the army staff.

The committee at its February 26 meeting asked the government to strip Mustafizur of his four-star general rank, for what it said was irregularity in his promotion.

The committee at its Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban meeting also alleged corruption in the construction of war heroes' gate in the cantonment at a cost of Tk 75 lakh.